David Brauer dines out in Kingfield

MinnPost's David Brauer monitors the movements of the media by day (he occasionally puts the heat on CityPages), but spends his off hours working for the Kingfield Farmer's Market as treasurer and one-man promotions machine (check out his Twitter feed for regular mentions of the market).

1. The 10th season of the Kingfield Farmer's Market kicks off at the end of May. Anything new or different about this year's market? On one level, the big change is that there are a lot of similarities. Last year was by far our best year, in terms of vendor numbers and customer counts, and much of that is back. A few cool changes: We'll have two new prepared-food vendors (a falafel-seller and an international specialties vendor) to go with Chef Shack and Akshay-Patram, so there will be more of a "food court" (not a mall-quality one!) to go with all the fruits and veggies.

On the vendor side, we're adding a new meat seller to replace Jill, whose family sadly had to give up the business last year, and a second fruit vendor in the second half of the season.

2. What's your favorite place to eat in the Kingfield neighborhood? You mean which kid do I like the best? I eat most often at Anodyne, where I can't get enough of the meatloaf sandwich (with all the condiments slathered on). My family and I are big fans of La Chaya's Sunday brunch. It's not the "mass quantities" brunch you see at smorgasbord places, but everything is incredibly well prepared, with Spanish touches (including awesome Spanish chorizo, mellower than Mexican). There's no better pie than any berry pie at Curran's.

3. If you could bring any kind of restaurant or food to Kingfield, what would it be? Basically, what is the neighborhood lacking when it comes to food in your opinion? Oddly, we don't have a good non-Chinese Asian food option in the neighborhood, probably due to Eat Street. I'd love to have a good Vietnamese place, but Eat Street isn't far away.

4. As the father of two young kids, how much do your children dictate the food choices at your house? How about when you go out? I have beaten the odds so incredibly with my whole family when it comes to taste buds. I'm the cook, mostly, and from a fairly early age my kids have really enjoyed eating the healthy peasant cooking my mom taught me. If the food choices slide toward the kid stereotypes--spaghetti, burgers, etc.--it's because Dad is too lazy, not because they're stomping their feet. Mom is a near-militant Michael Pollinista, and the kids are powerless to resist that, even if they want to. But my 12-year-old son loves to cook, and is good, too. (He even bakes!) He wants to be a professional chef. As a former waiter and bartender who has experienced "chef drama," I'm watching that one carefully.

When we go out, the only thing we have to plan around is spicy food, which my 9-year-old daughter hasn't developed a taste for. They get excited to go to Quang's Deli and Rainbow Chinese, which are regular stops. And our number-one take-away family food item is Jasmine Deli's Pho. The broth is the best in town.

5. As a native of Iowa, I have to ask you: Who has the better State Fair (food-wise) and why? Oh, man, it's been 31 years since I've lived in Iowa, but I can say this: I love the Minnesota State Fair food, and the corn is my favorite, and I have never felt I took a step down when I came up here. I have a weird favorite in Minnesota that I don't remember from Iowa: the Big (stuffed) Green Pepper.